日汽車銷售回升

Recently Mainichi News reported the following:

日本自動車販売協会連合会などが２日発表した１０月の国内総新車販売台数は前年同月比４．４％増の３９万６０４８台と、２カ月連続で前年実績を上回った。減税と買い替え補助による国のエコカー支援策が、ハイブリッド車（ＨＶ）などの販売増につながった。登録車の販売を社名・ブランド別で見ると、ＨＶ「インサイト」などが堅調なホンダは２９．９％増の４万３４２７台と７カ月連続のプラス。ＨＶ「プリウス」などが人気のトヨタ自動車は１３．８％増の１３万３８７７台と３カ月連続増となった。減税対象の低燃費車が好調な日産自動車も１５．３％増の３万６５７２台と、大手３社がそろって２ケタ増を記録した。 だが、昨年１０月は米リーマン・ブラザーズ破綻（はたん）後の世界的な金融危機の影響で新車販売が大きく落ち込んだ経緯がある。そのため、業界関係者は「販売台数の水準は依然低く、本格回復とは言えない」（大手メーカー幹部）と慎重だ。

The Japan Automobile Dealers Association etc. had announced on the second of this month that the total number of new cars sold domestically in October was 396,048, an increase of 4.4% compared to same month last year, and was a two-month continuous increase compared to the record a year ago. The country's eco-friendly car support plan which used tax reduction and purchase substitution assistance as the means was attributed to sales increase in cars including gas-and-electric-powered cars (HV). When the car sales registration was analysed according to the name of the company and the brand, Honda HV "Incite" etc. had car sales of 43,427, an increase of 29.9% which was a steady plus for seven continuous months. HV "Prius" etc. popular Toyota Motor had a continuous increase amounting to 133,877, an increase of 13.8% and was a three- month continuous increase. Nissan Motor Co. which was good at producing fuel efficient cars thus attracted tax reduction also had sales increase of 15.3% standing at 36,572 cars, and the 3 major companies recorded a two digit increase. However, there was a fact to consider: the U.S. Lehman Brothers Holdings failure last October that caused the following worldwide finance crisis had affected new cars sales and caused it to drop greatly. Therefore, the person who was related to the industry was prudent, (the executive of major manufacturer) saying that "The level on numbers of sales is still low, and cannot be called a real recovery".

Is the recovery of domestic car sales really an indication of economic recovery for Japan?